Ocean city, MD. We arrived about 6am. The tide was still coming in. We were about to enter, and we made our security call as it was lightly foggy, viz about 400'. A motoryacht saw us about to go in, and let us know of the 6kt current. Thank goodness. I called the local marina, and they were closed. So i called the coast guard for information on currents, tides, ect. He informed us that the local tide was an hour behind the tide schedule. So we waited and bobbed. As we waited, the fog thickened.
We had about a 30 min window to get in. I have never boated in conditions where i could not see past my own bow. Missing the window meant a 8 hour wait, in increasing seas. So i made the decision to go in. Creeping so slowly into the channel, i kept spinning. I would try to maintain course, and look for markers, but would end up facing east.... so i went to my pilot training. Instrument flight.
I navigated by heading, and GPS. We could see channel markers, once they were about 150' away.
I knew where they should be, and that made it easier. The current was still strong, and i had to try hard to maintain direction.
With Liz on one side, Dana on the other, we kept moving. Somehow people think its a great idea to fish inside the channel. I came upon 2 fishing boats, fishing, in the fog, in the channel. This was a nightmare. The marina we were headed to was not on the GPS, but i thought the channel i found was it. I motored about 2 miles total in the fog, going down the wrong channel, until it ended. Turning around, we motored back to the proper entrance, and went in. here is our view of the docks as we approached.
As i said to the girls, as soon as the dock lines are on, the fog will lift. It did. So here we are in Ocean City, MD.
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